No Beggars in the Kingdom by Meri Ford
I
read this post by David Orton yesterday afternoon...and it helped put
in place something that had been stirring in my spirit since I had
heard a sermon talking about us being "beggars at the cross."
I will post this article and then add more of my thoughts.
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"
… beginnings determine endings. We have started with man and
therefore we end with man. We have bought the line that goes
something like this, “Jesus came to die for our sins; therefore our
mission as the church is to get this message out to the world.” You
say, “Sounds fine to me, what’s wrong with that?” The problem
is, it’s the part and
not the whole.
Paul in his farewell message to the elders of the church in Ephesus
declared that he had not neglected to teach them “the
whole purpose of God” (Acts
20:27 NASB). As we will see in a moment, rescuing man from the Fall
and its horrific effects is partof
God’s purpose and not the whole.
Even so, experience of contemporary church life tells us the part has
become the whole.
We have taken the Fall of man and his resulting condition as God’s
starting point. God, therefore, sent His Son to save man.
Consequently, He and the church exist to help our recovery. God
Himself is domesticated—He is repackaged as the “heavenly
therapist” whose main assignment is to help us on the road to
recovery. Therefore, man and his rescue from the damage and
dysfunction of sin becomes central to God’s purpose in history. But
is this true apostolic Christianity? Is it really God’s starting
point?
Paul
provides the answer when he describes God as “the
Father, from whom all things came” (1
Corinthians 8:6). Our starting point is not found in the Fall, in the
human condition, but in God the Father, from whom all things come
(Eph 1:3-5, 11). Regardless of what our stance may be on
predestination, one thing is clear—God’s saving intent did not
begin at the Fall, but in the Father before time began—“before
the creation of the world.” This makes the Father the determining
factor of history, not the Fall. God begins in Himself—in His own
nature and will, not in the human situation: “In
the beginning God” (Gen
1:1)."
Excerpt
from "Snakes
in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today's Church"
Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today's Church was re-released in September 2015 in the USA for worldwide distribution through Destiny Image.
Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today's Church was re-released in September 2015 in the USA for worldwide distribution through Destiny Image.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More
of Meri's thoughts:
Some
time ago someone shared a dream that went like this, and I may have
referred to this before also. A man was standing before the throne of
God and he was begging God for something...pleading with him..Please
God, I beg of you..... And God motioned for someone to come into the
room...and a large soldier in full regalia came in and followed Gods
order to take the beggar out and put him in chains. God was
asked, Why are you doing this? And God replied. There are NO
BEGGARS in my Kingdom. All my children are MY SONS, they have
inherited all that I have and am. They have no need of begging.
I
continually hear people begging God in prayer for healing and
deliverance...and I must admit at times I have prayed similarly and
may well have for many years of my life...If only God, you would do
such and such.....
Orton's
message is that while we begin at the cross...we don't live there. We
live as FULLY ADOPTED SONS OF THE FATHER!! "Our Father."
Imagine how it hurts the Father's heart when we have access to
all that the Father is and has, to come begging as if we were not His
Sons. Even the prodigal who was willing to take the role of a
servant having squandered away his "inheritance" was
restored to full status as a beloved son of the Father, in whose eyes
the son had never lost that status. And the Elder Son didn't
understand his own inheritance and his status with His Father either
or he too would have welcomed the prodigal brother recognizing the
graciousness of His Father's love and the nature of their common
inheritance.
So
where does that leave us who have grown up in the evangelical and
charismatic or even the sacramental churches? Perhaps what it
tells us is that like David Orton says...we've just seen a part of
what God has for us IN CHRIST JESUS. The congregation that I
have been attending is very evangelical oriented and nary a
service where an invitation to accept Jesus isn't given. And it is a
growing congregation in numbers. They truly love the Lord. Yet
I sense that as David Orton says....there is something missing....Our
identity as a Much Beloved Son of the Father....
True...some
of us are babes...just coming to the knowledge that Jesus is our
Saviour....and just born again of the Spirit...without having much
idea of what downpayment on our inheritance the Holy Spirit brings
into our life...much less what that "inheritance" is all
about.
But
are we discipling the babes...that they might grow up as Sons of the
Father walking in the provision that is theirs, or are they still
under guardians....the law....instead of being skilled and trained to
understand all it means to be a Son and to "do the works of the
Father"?
A
friend this morning told of a lady in her bible study group that
sometimes the others in the group want to choke because she
frequently "interrupts" with a comment...but a comment my
friend said that has weight and bearing and one you never forget.
And I know the feeling that woman must sense and at times
thought some in the groups I have been in would prefer I didn't say a
word. I often wonder too how often "my words live
on"...how much of the Spirit of God empowered them to be heard
time and time again perhaps in other dimensions of people's
lives? Where
are the teachers that understand God's word when it says when the
Spirit is moving...one who is speaking is to YIELD to
another that the Spirit is moving on? Oh but we have agendas
and a leader will say I have a sermon and a lesson to teach and only
45 minutes before the sermon is to be over..... Scripture
doesn't say that does it? Yes, there is order, but I have
wonderfully noticed that Holy Spirit's order is often not what
congregations put into place. God's order says the one speaking
YIELDS to another one stirred by the Spirit....while our church
rules of "order" are the so different...you wait
until one is done to share something or check it out with leadership
before speaking....NOT GOD"S WAY......ouch!!! Does it mean
we can be polite and not intrusive? Of course...but we will
"interrupt" when the Spirit moves us regardless of Roberts
or the Boards rules of order!!
Sons
function so differently than servants. Little children
that don't know how much their parents have provided for them, beg
and throw temper tantrums not realizing the provision that is already
made for them. How often we discipline kids who beg
and throw temper tantrums because they are uncomfortable for
us!How often to we explain to them who THEY are and
what is provided for them not only by their parents but by our
Father? Oops...seems I didn't know this stuff when I raised
kids....and at almost 70 I am just learning about my "inheritance"
and who I am and who Christ is in me....and what Papa has provided
for me because of Christ in me!!
I
warn you reading this....this understanding will mess up your current
way of responding to people in more ways than I can explain!! All
those religious, social good deeds that we do are "not
wrong"...but they will begin to look differently when you see
those we "serve" as fellow sons of the Father...all a part
of the family, brothers and sisters. What do I see when I see
you? Do I see my Father's daughter or son and all the love He has for
me and you?
I
don't want to get into issues of the meaning of judgment...but
the minute we fail to see others as equal recipients of God's love as
our Father...we are no longer seeing each other as recipients of His
power and authority in Christ Jesus....otherwise known as
Grace.....we don't deserve to have Christ live in us....Him living in
us and us in Him is not deserved....but that power in us, that Life
of Christ in us IS GRACE....grace isn't something...it is the
undeserved Life of Christ living in us and me in Him......manifested
in whatever behavior that come out of that trusted relationship.
A close
apostolic friend of mine is forever "harping" (used
generously) on the Fear of the Lord. When we understand God's
Grace is LIFE itself which Is Christ in Us....we will begin to
understand the "fear of the Lord" and what it means to be
alive....and apart from HIm, the life of Christ in us is
DEATH......there is no Life apart from the power of God in us and in
this world. That is the GOOD NEWS that it is available TO ALL...Jew
and Gentile..male and female, green and yellow black and
white...human beings....WE ARE SONS of the FATHER....we lost our
awareness of being sons as we joined Adam's progeny in DIY
activities. We have been restored to SonShip IN CHRIST JESUS!!
It isn't about begging at the cross...it even isn't about
confessing my sins.........I will confess my failure to trust HIm
when I SEE WHO HE IS....He has accomplished the full
restoration/reconciliation of all of Adam's children in the second
Adam JESUS CHRIST>......THAT IS GOOD NEWS......not that my
sins are forgiven and I'm going to heaven...BUT I am not long
alone...having to fight for myself to survive...an orphan, lost and
alone......BUT A FULL SON OF THE FATHER...the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords....we are NOT to be found as beggars. Healing is in
Christ...I live in HIm, He lives in Me....I do need fathers here on
earth to help me understand and be disciplined in the ways of my
Heavenly Father....I need brothers and sisters who I see
appropriating their inheritance and sharing it with others who have
yet to realize who they are in the eyes of the Father.....
That
means.....learning how to let God be God...to yield to the Holy
Spirit...laying hands on the sick and healing them, raising the dead,
casting out demons.....
Never do
you see Paul saying God healed so and so...Paul healed the
sick.....Paul is the Son of the Father....with the same power and
authority of the Father. Learning HOW TO walk in that inheritance is
another issue and I am just beginning to walk in even the awareness
of it, and still gingerly laying on hands, praying into situations
instead of praying for, speaking into situations instead of speaking
about them.....
And dear
friends............the economy where most of us live is not conducive
to this kind of living....it is contrary to all the rules and
regulations of man...BUT IT IS LOVE and Love is never "against
the law of God.".....God is Love...my Papa, my Abba is Love, and
we are being invited to walk in His Inheritance in the Saints....He
wants His power and His authority to flow out to all those who are
his sons that don't know it yet because we labeled them according to
whether or not they knew this or knew that or acted this way or that.
God is
calling out to us to Know Him and be Known of Him as our Papa...OUR
FATHER, the privilege that is ours because of the cross....I am not a
sinner saved by grace......I am a Son who was once a sinner until
Grace Himself found me!! Do I still sin? Of course....but my
life now is in Christ and sin has no power to destroy my life in
Christ...the guilt the shame, the destructive power of it is broken
Once for All at the cross!!
We died
with Christ and may we rise to live our lives out daily, hourly in
HIS RESURRECTION LIFE made available to us by Holy Spirit
joined with our spirits when we were born again of the Spirit of
God....BORN AGAIN of the Father...even as man was in the beginning
before the Fall....restored to Sonship.
Meri
Ford
Meri
Ford 516 Park Rd Winlock, WA
98596
360 520 4503 Blogs
http://meriford.blogspot.com/
